Warning: If you don't really want a history lesson, please move on! Kthanxbai!
Yesterday at church, the pastor was preaching about the influence that dad's or fathers have on their kids. This influence could shape the child for the better or for worse. He gave three examples of father's who's influence changed history. (Yes Mom, I really do pay attention to what the pastor is saying in church!!!) Each of these men we all have heard of. The first man was Heinrich. He was a devote Jew before he became a Lutheran so that he would be taken a little more seriously as a lawyer. He wanted his son, Karl Marx, to follow in his footsteps and become a lawyer because this was a more practical career, but to his dismay, Karl wanted to study philosophy and literature. To make a long story short, Marx's writings would later start become a strong influence and create the Communist Party.
The second father that was talked about was Alois. Records tell us that he was a very strict man and would often beat his son, Adolf. It is said that Adolf Hitler told his assistant that at one point during these beatings, he grew numb and started to count the blows. Workers said that when he would sleep, they would hear him counting to thirty, which is consistent to the 30 blows his father would deliver during his regular beatings. What seemed to be the weirdest thing is that everything that Hitler hated about the world could be found in his family. As we all know, he went on to create the Nazi Party and kill over 11-14 million people who were not of the Aryan race. All of those who were not perfect. I wonder if Alois knew that his extremely tough child rearing skills would result in the Holocaust.
The third father that the pastor talked about was King David from the Old Testament of the Bible. It was said that he was a man after God's heart, but at home, this guy was a mess! He had four sons and three of them were killed! (I am not going to go into the whole story about this.) His son, Solomon, who he actually made it a point to sit down with, would later become king. One of the wisest and richest kings in history, I might add. The Bible says that David actually sat down with his son and taught him everything that he knew. Unlike the first two fathers, David actually made time for his son and and was a real dad to him. Could it really be that simple? In this case, yes.
I think what I am getting at is that dad's have more of an influence than we sometimes think. Boys look to them to figure out who they would want or not want to become and girls look at them to see what kind of man they want to marry one day. This is assuming that their dad's are a good influence on them. There are also some dad's who look at the example that they had growing up with and want to do better and make sure other kids don't have to go through what they did. I look at my dad and know I got a good one for sure!
I know that I am a little late in this posting, but after the service yesterday, I didn't think that the original posting would have said what I needed to say. So to all of the great dad's out there, keep up the great work! Even though society doesn't always see how truly amazing you are, the rest of us do!
Happy Belated Father's Day, Dad! :o)
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